Samsung working on Bixby-powered smart home speaker

A competitor to Echo and Google Home

Google and Amazon are the leading brands for home digital assistants this year with little competition. Apple also has the Siri-powered HomePod, but given that it is not available yet and carries a more premium price tag, it is not likely to take away market share from Google and Amazon very quickly. Not to be left completely behind, Samsung is pushing to launch its own smart speaker using Bixby as your own assistant.

One area that Samsung could excel with a smart speaker is the ease of use with SmartThings. Samsung bought SmartThings when it was a startup company and has kept it growing to support thousands of devices that operate in homes. Locks, smoke detectors, thermostats, outlet plugs, motion sensors, and a variety of other devices will be compatible out of the box. Google Home and Amazon's line of Alexa-enabled speakers mainly rely on third-party accessories for home automation.

For now, there will not be any display on the smart speaker. Samsung has opted to go with standard buttons with LED indicators on top of the device. The speaker may be released in a variety of colors, but the only known prototype was manufactured with a matte black finish. The above image is a Samsung Radiant R360 which may be the basis for a Bixby-enabled speaker.

Price is generally something that is highly competitive, but Samsung is opting to pick a middle to high end price point for its speaker. It is likely that the new smart speaker will cost around $200, placing it well above the Echo Dot and Google Home mini but still below the HomePod and Google Home Max.